Hurricane San Ciriaco

A photo of destruction from Hurricane San Ciriaco. From Brigadier General George Davis's "Military Government of Porto Rico from October 18, 1898, to April 30, 1900." Public domain

Hurricane San Ciriaco struck Puerto Rico at a precarious point in its history. The United States had just taken possession of the island, and the 40 or so years leading up to the Spanish-American War had also been particularly tumultuous.

Annual Reports for the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1899. https://books.google.com/books?id=Hl1ZAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA625&lpg=PA625&dq=puerto+rico+general+order+138&source=bl&ots=nvLs71GruK&sig=2G1aGc3Dte1KKs4oi-swpqmoIFU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikh5nT0rDbAhWjilQKHTzXCYAQ6AEILTAC#v=onepage&q=general%20order%20138&f=false